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Compare Prices on Carnival Conquest Western Caribbean Cruises

Carnival Conquest OH so worth it!!

Sail Date:
January 2009

Destination:
Western Caribbean

Embarkation:
Galveston

It started out as a disaster, but it was not carnival's fault. Galveston was hit with a fog warning and the port was shut down. The ships were not allowed into the harbor until about 6 hrs past their due time. Then they were trying to get us on, the other passengers off, and the rooms cleaned. Needless to say my worries only increased. But then were finally on the boat just in time for dinner.

The first night we went to the Monet room for an open seating dinner, where we had new york strip steak with all the trimming and it was cooked to perfection. Our luggage was delivered to our room with no problems. We had a balcony and I suggest if you can afford it go for it. We did the cheapest balcony and let them put us where ever, we ended up on the lido deck mid ship and it was perfect. At first we were afraid we would hear everything on the lido deck, after all that is where the main buffet is and the pools, bars, etc. But we never heard any of it and we were only 10 steps away More
from all of it. It was great.

And let me say, you can literally eat every minute of everyday with stopping somewhere on that ship. I thought the food was really good, I tried something new every single day. The one thing I really recommend it the chocolate melting cake, if you are a chocolate lover this is to die for. Our head waiter (guillermo) was the absolute best, he was funny, courteous, entertaining, he told jokes, did magic, made shapes out of the napkins. He remembered what we liked, called us the honeymooners (we were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary) even if the food had been awful we would have gone to the main restaurant just to be entertained by him.

One of the things I worried about was clothes, what was actually dress casual, dress elegant, etc. I could not really find an adequate description anywhere so needless to say I over packed big time. Dress elegant is a tux and cocktail dress, but in reality a nice suit and tie and a nice dress like you would were to church are acceptable. Dress casual for the dining room is anything not a swimsuit, cutoff jeans, flip flops, muscle shirts. It is khaki pants or shorts, jeans or jean shorts, nice shirt for him. And skirt and top or capris/shorts and top, or sundress for her. Most people did not wear shorts but if you take 2 shirts and a pair of pants your doing great. They do have a self-serve laundry on board that cost $2 a load to wash and $2 a load to dry and they are good quality machines. Or they have a laundry service that was like $15 on thursday and saturday. Alot of the items listed on the ultimate packing list you don't need at all. What we found you will need is a bottle opener (if you don't take one, and you need to open your beer they sell them in the gift shop for $12.00), tylenol etc, ( I actually took this but because of his tooth I ended up buying more, what cost me $2.00 at walmart cost me $10.00 on board) your own pop (we took 12 12oz bottles each) 2 cans on board cost $4.90 with gratuity added. The multi plugged surge protector we used once, yes there is only one plug in the room but we found that was actually fine and did not need this other thing. The two way radios, we only used once, now I saw several other people who had kids or were with several people who claimed these were a life saver so you have to decide for yourself on this one. Other than that all you need is swimsuits and coverups, tenna shoes, and couple pair shorts and tops and something for dinner. We took 4 full size bags and I could not believe when people got on board with on one bag each. That is really all you need. Especially if your living by the pool which most do.

The room was always kept cleaned, our steward was very helpful and friendly, I was fascinated with the towel animals, and there were a couple of nights that my husband did not leave the room (once because of a toothache, and once because of the OU football game) and my stewart whose name is ninja (spelled differently) would make me a towel animal even though he actually did not go into my room and turn down our bed. The balcony in the room was what we loved the most, we could go out onto it and escape the people and be alone and still enjoy the ocean, or the moonlight, or sunrise. Sometimes we would go out there at 2 in the morning just because we could. They are always taking your pictures too, and they are usually really good but expect to pay from $7.99 to $21.99 for anything from a snapshot to an 8 x 10 portrait. And of course you can order even bigger for even more money. Pictures is were most of our money went too, they are very good at what they do.

The entertainment was kinda cheesy but I enjoyed the dancing and singing, just the plot was different. These shows were parental discretion advised due to costuming (sparkling g-string and wonder bra) and dance moves. The comedy shows were great (these were rated R and graphic so if your easily offended don't go). They had a juggler and a magician both were very good. And a few others I did not see. Karaoke all over the ship, games, dances, and of course the casino and bars. Becareful with your drinking the sail and sign cards became the drink and sink cards by the end of the voyage (several people were shocked at their end of the cruise bill, but I found out you can check your bill in your room on the tv by hitting menu and going to folio so you can keep track of what you have spent). Drinks will run you from 3.95 for early bird specials to 14.95 for drink of the day in a specialty cup. The overall experience was fantastic there were a couple of days at the beginning that we weren't sure of just because we were new, but the staff were very helpful, and extremely friendly from officers to the janitors. I can't wait to go back. You meet so many different people from different cultures and places. Its just great all around. And we figured the cost equaled to about $250 a night which is cheaper than what we would have spent if we were driving somewhere, buying gas, food and hotel fees. Not sure go for it, you wont be sorry. Less

Port and Shore Excursions

Cozumel was nice, we were booked on the Atlantis submarine at 1pm but we docked at 10am so we got off ship and went shopping. The town is colorful, the people very friendly the merchandise reasonable. But be prepared to negotiate for everything you buy or pay twice the price than what you can get the same item for next door. And they will only negotiate so far, my husband was playing 2 of the boot sellers against each other trying to get the best deal when he got them down to the point they both told him to go buy elsewhere. So know what your willing to pay before hand and don't take it to far you may miss out on a pair of elephant skin boots for $100.00. We shopped, went back on board to unload, eat lunch, clean up (its warm there) and then head back onland for our excursion. The atlantis submarine was an experience. We took a boat out about 15 minutes from the pier where we got to watch as the submarine emerge from below. It holds 48 people and they fill every seat, its a very tight fit and I don't recommend it if your claustrophobic. You have 2 rows of 24 people who have no elbow room, 2 people share one window. But being 105 feet under the ocean looking at the fish was cool. but this particular reef did not have the colorful coral due to hurricane damage from several years ago. If I was to do this one again, I would do it in Caymans or someplace like that where the reef is in better condition. But it was a good excursion. Afterwards, we had time for more shopping and drinking. We enjoyed this port and look forward to going there again.

LOVED THIS PORT, we booked of ship with the moby dick tours who I do recommend. They were cheaper than the cruise, it was a small group. They were friendly and took the time to explain everything and to anwer every question. We went snorkeling and then to sting ray island. It was the coolest thing ever to play with the sting rays, they are like giant cats, rubbing against you. They let you hold them, feed them, pet them. They rub against you, its an experience we will never forget. And Mark, Nicholas, and William were in the water with us the whole time making sure every person got to experience it.
The town is easy to get around in, we walked everywhere. We actually had about 2 hrs before our excursion so we went sight seeing and was told Jimmy Buffet was going to be in margarittaville around noon. Unfortunaly our tour ran over a bit and we just missed him although several from our cruise was treated to a free 1 hr concert by him. We did not have alot of time to shop after our cruise so I advise you to get what you wnat when you see it cause you may be having so much fun on your tour that you end up running late. We had dinner at the hardrock cafe and then made a dash to the ship. It was great, we laughted the whole time.

Montego bay was our first destination. We booked the sandals all exclusive resort. We were transported by bus for about 15 minutes to the resort where we were given a tour and told to be back in front of the resort by 2:50pm the bus was to leave at 3. Everything was included from the jet skis, catamaran, diving, snorkeling, sailing, also all the food and drinks (including alcoholic). The beach was nice, the water calm and pretty. But the people at the terminal when we were getting on acted like we were gonna steal something or break the laws. Then you had the pushy ones who jumped into pictures with you and then wanted payment for them being in your picture. And on the exclusive private beach, that ends at the beach. Once you hit the water it is open territory and they were coming up to us on old surf boards, kayaks, boogie boards trying to sell us their stuff and their weed. When we told them we did not have much money since we were not expecting to spend any at the resort they said that was ok, "no problems no worries, how much money you got?" We finally got out of the water so they would leave us alone, If we ever go to jamaica again our excursion will be to treat ourselves to a day in the spa (on port days they run all kinds of specials).